Door securing mechanism



March 30,1943.

' W. YOUNG Doon SECURING MECHANISM Filed March 19, 194i 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 March 30, 1943. w YOUNG DOOR SECURING MECHANISM Filed March 19, 1941 -2 Shgets-Sheet 2 Patented Mar. 30, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT orrlcr.

DOOR SECURING MECHANISM William Young, Washington, D. 0. Application March 19, 1941, Serial No. 384,169 6 Claims. -(Cl. 29247) My invention relates to mechanism for securing doors and other closures, such, for example, as hatches, in closed position.

The principal object of the invention is to provide a door securing mechanism, particularly suitable for bulkhead doors and other closures of ships, which may be quickly and correctly operated to either fasten or release the door under all sorts of conditions.

The primary feature of the invention consists in providing the door securing mechanism with rotatable means for actuating a plurality of simultaneously movable dogs which are pivotally mounted adjacent an edge of the door with their pivotal axes substantially normal to the plane of the door, the rotatable means having a curved portion eccentric to its axis of rotation which is adapted to cooperate with a link movably associated with the dogs, thelink being movably connected to the door so that it will move in response to movement of the rotatable means to actuate the dogs.

Another feature of the invention consists in employing rotatable means in the form of a lever for actuating the locking dogs and in providing movable means for cooperating with the lever to prevent the dogs from being moved to door securing position while the door is open.

Other and more specific features of the invention, residing in advantageous forms, combinations and relations of parts, will hereinafter appear and be pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, wherein the invention is shown as applied to a bulkhead door:

Figure 1 is an elevational view of the inside of the door and adjacent portions of the bulkhead illustrating the door securing mechanism.

Figure 2 is an elevational view of the outside of the door and adjacent portions of the bulkhead.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on line 3-3 of Figure'l.

Figure 4 is an enlarged front view of the latching device for restraining movement of the operating lever of the door mechanism, together with adjacent portions of the door and bulkhead, the operating lever being shown in position to be operatively engaged by the latching device.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on line 5-5 of Figure 4.

Figure 6 is an enlarged elevational view of one of the bracket members with which the locking dogs cooperate to secure the door in closed position.

Figure '7 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of the construction illustrated in Figure 6.

While the door securing device has been shown as applied to a bulkhead door, it will be appreciated that it may be used with equal facility on all doors and other closures which are required to be securely and tightly locked in closed position.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, I indicates a metal door provided with marginal flanges 2 and hingedly associated with a bulkhead 3 so that it may be swung to and from closed position. The hinges for the door may be of any desired construction comprising, for example, hinge straps 4 which are secured to the door and are formed with suitable apertures for receiving hinge pins or the like 5 which extend through openings in hinge butts I mounted on the bulkhead.

As bulkhead doors are customarily provided with a strip of sealing material to make the door water-tight and to provide a seal against the passage of smoke and gas, the door illustrated in the drawings is shown as having a strip of sealing material 8 arranged on the inner face of the door adjacent the marginal flange 2, but it is to be understood that the operation of the door securing device is not dependent upon any particular type of sealing structure. The sealing strip is disposed within a channel formed in part by the marginal flanges 2 and in part by a plate 9 which is disposed inwardly of and parallel with the marginal flanges, the plate being suitably secured to the inner face of the door as by welding. The sealing strip may be retained in place in any suitable manner, such, for example, as by a pair of oppositely projecting angles HJ which are respectively secured to the marginal flanges 2 and the plate 9. Surrounding the opening in the bulkhead is a flange H which is adapted to bear against and compress the sealing strip when the door is secured in closed position.

The mechanism for securing the door in closed position includes a plurality of pivoted locking dogs l2 which are mounted on the inner face of the door adjacent the side edges thereof with their pivotal axes substantially normal to the plane of the door. Each of the dogs has a looking arm l3 and an operating arm l4, and in order that all the dogs adjacent the same edge of the door will move in unison the operating arms of those dogs are pivotally connected to one or more rods l5. Additional locking dogs l6 may be conveniently provided at the top and bottom edges of the door. These dogs are of similar construction to dogs l2, having locking arms l1 and operating arms l8, and they are movably connected by links I9 to the operating arms l4 of the dogs l2 respectively nearest thereto. The dogs adjacent the top and bottom of the door are thus movable simultaneously with the dogs at the side edges of the door.

Any suitable means may be provided for pivotally connecting the locking dogs to the door. Thus, each of the dogs may be rigidly provided with a pin or boss 20 which projects through an opening in a suitable bearing member 2| rigidly secured to the door in spaced relation to the inner face thereof by laterally spaced plates 22 and 23. These plates are preferably welded to the plate member 9, as well as to the door and to the bearing members, and they may be of any convenient shape to provide the necessary strength and rigidity. The inner ends of the pivot pins 20 of each of the dogs is screw threaded to receive a nut 24 by which the dogs are maintained in pivotal association with their respective bearing members.

To secure the door in closed position, the outer ends of the locking arms l3 and I! of dogs l2 and I6, respectively, are adapted to. be projected beyond the edge of the door opening to engage brackets 25 secured to the bulkhead. Each of the brackets has an inclined surface 26 for co.- operating with the locking arm of the adjafient dog so that, as the locking arm moves along the surface, the door will be wedged or cammed to closed position. Along the inner edges of the inclined surfaces 26 of the brackets are beads or ribs 21 with which the locking arms of the dogs are adapted to cooperate for preventing the door from moving in a direction parallel with the door opening when it is locked in closed position.

To enable the dogs to properly cooperate with their respective brackets, and thus compensate for inaccuracies in manufacture and wear of the door parts, any suitable adjustable means may be employed, such, for example, as an adjustable wedge member 28 interposed between each bracket and the bulkhead. Each of the Wedge members has a pair of elongated slots 29, for receiving the bolts 39 by which the brackets are socured to the bulkhead. These bolts are screw threaded at opposite ends to receive nuts 3| and 32 respectively, nuts 31 being employed in con junction with ribs 33 which are integral with the bolts to rigidly secure the bolts to the bulkhead, and nuts 32 being employed to permit 01 adjustment of the brackets without loosening the bolts with respect to the bulkhead. The coopere ating faces of the brackets 25 and the adjustable wedge members 28 may be serrated, if desired, so that the wedges may be conveniently maintained in a desired position of adjustment.

Extending through the door and journalled within a cylindrical portion 34 of a casting 35 mounted on the door is a rotatable shaft 36 which is restrained from axial movement by being rigidly formed intermediate its ends with a collar 37 which is confined between the outer end of the cylindrical portion 34 and a cap 38 which is threaded on the cylindrical portion. Rigidly mounted on the inner end of shaft 36 is a rotatable device 39 provided with two oppositely arranged curved slots 4!) which are eccentric with respect to the axis of the shaft. So that this device may be readily rotated from either side of the door, each end of shaft 36 is rigidly provided with a lever, the lever on the outside of the door being designated by the numeral 4| and the lever on the inside of the door, which is preferably rigid with the rotatable device, being designated by the numeral 42.

Operatively interposed between the rotatable device 39 and each of the sets of locking dogs is a link 43. The outer end of each of the links is preferably bifurcated and it is pivotally connected to the rod 15 and the operating arm I4 of one of the dogs 12 by the same pin 44 by which that dog is connected to the rod. The inner end of each of the links is also bifurcated to straddle the rotatable device 39 and it is movably connected thereto by a pin or the like 45 which extends through the adjacent slot 46. In addition to being th'us connected to the rotatable device, the inner end of each of the links 43 is movably connected to the door so that, when the rotatable device is operated, the link is caused to move in a direction which will induce movement of the set of locking dogs with which it is associated. In the present embodiment of the invention, the inner end of each of the links 43 is movably connected to the door by a link 46 which is pivotally connected to link 43 by pin 45 and to the door by a bolt or the like 41 carried by a suitable bracket 48 secured to the inner face of the door. The eccentric slots 49 are so formed with respect to the axis of rotation of the rotatable device as to afford a maximum amount of leverage during the final movement of the dogs toward door securing position and those skilled in the art will, of course, appreciate that the leverage will vary in accordance with the eccentricity of the slots.

The operating levers on opposite sides of the door are preferably arranged so that, when the dogs are in door securing position, the levers will be substantially horizontal. Although the levers project beyond the edge of the door remote from the hinges when in horizontal position, they are not so long as to project beyond the door when they have been operated (as shown in dotted lines in Figure 2) to cause the dogs to assume door releasing position. To maintain the operating levers in the positions which they must assume to move the dogs to door releasing position and thus prevent the dogs from assuming a position which would interfere with moving the door to closed position, a latch 49 is pivotally mounted on the outer face of the door to cooperate with the operating lever 4 I. The latch is pivotally mounted in a bracket 50 secured to the door and it is provided with laterally spaced oppositely projecting arms 5| and 52. The arm 5| is disposed outwardly of the adjacent marginal flange of the door and it terminates in an offset portion 53. Arm 52 of the latch is provided with a projection 54 having an inclined face 55 leading to a face 56 adapted to engage lever 4|. A spring 57 connected at one end to the door and at the other end to the arm 5| of the latch is adapted, when the door is opened, to maintain the latch in a position (shown in dotted lines in Figure 5) such that the projection 54 will be disposed in a position preventing movement of the operating lever. To cause the latch to assume a position (shown in full lines in Figure 5) in which it will not interfere with movement of the operating lever when the door is in closed position, the offset portion 53 of arm 5| of the latch is of such length that as the door approaches closed position its outer end contacts the adjacent portion of the bulkhead, whereupon continued closing of the door will automatically cause the latch to assume an inoperative position. Thus, when the door is closed, the

operating arm is free to be operated to actuate the locking dogs but, when the door is opened, the latch automatically moves into a position prevent-. ing movement of the operating lever and locking dogs. A pin or other suitable means 58 may be conveniently arranged to limit pivotal movement of the latch in one direction. Stops may be advantageously employed for limiting movement of the operating levers 4| and 42 in a locking direction as well as an unlocking direction. Thus a stop 60 may be mounted on the outer face of the door to cooperate with lever ll to arrest unlocking movement of the levers, and a stop 'Gl may be mounted on the bulkhead for co operating with lever Al to limit movement of the levers in a locking direction.

It will be manifest to those skilled in the art that the invention is not limited to th precise details which have been illustrated and described and that it is-susceptible of modification and em bodiment in various forms without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the apv pended claims.

What I claim is:

1. Door securing mechanism including movable locking means having a plurality of simultaneously movable dogs pivotally mounted adjacent an edge of the door with their pivotal axes substantially normal to the plane of the door, rotatable means mounted on the door with its axis of rotation substantially parallel with the pivotal axe of the dogs, said rotatable means having a curved portion eccentric with respect to its axis of rotation, a link connected to said movable means and cooperable with said curved portion of said rotatable means so as to be movable thereby, and

means movably connecting the link to the door for causing the link when actuated by said rotat able means to move in a direction to operate said movable means.

2. Door securing mechanism including movable locking means having a plurality of simultaneously movable dogs pivotally mounted adjacent an edge of the door with their pivotal axes substantially normal to the plane of the door, rotatable means mounted on the door with'its axis of rotation substantially parallel with the pivotal axes of the dogs, said rotatable means having a. curved portion eccentric with respect to its axis of rotation, a link having its outerv end connected to said movable means and having its inner end cooperable with said curved portion of the rotatable means so as to be movable thereby, and means mounted on the door for controlling the path of movement of the inner end of the link so that said link when operated by the rotatable means is caused to actuate said movable means.

3. Door securing mechanism including movable locking means having a plurality of simultaneously movable dogs pivotally mounted adjacent an edge of the door with their pivotal axes substantially normal to the plane of the door, a lever rotatably mounted on the door with its axis of rotation substantially parallel with the pivotal axes of said dogs, said lever being rigidly provided with a curved portion eccentric with respect to its axis of rotation, a link connected to said movable means and cooperable with said curved portion so as to be movable thereby and a member pivotally mounted on the door and connected to said link for causing the latter when actuated by the rotatable means to move in a direction to operate said movable means.

4. Door securing mechanism including movable locking means having a plurality of simultaneously movable dogs pivotally mounted adjacent an edge of the door with their pivotal axes substantially normal to the plane of the door, rotatable means mounted on the door with its axis of rotation substantially parallel with the pivotal axes of the dogs, said rotatable means having a curved portion eccentric with respect to its axis of rotation, an operating link connected to said movable means for transmitting motion from the rotatable means to the movable means, and a keeper link for controlling the direction of movement of th operating link so that the latter when actuated by said rotatable means is caused to operate the movable means.

5. Door securing mechanism including movable means having a plurality of simultaneously movable dogs pivotally mounted adjacent an edge of the door with their pivotal axes substantially normal to the plane of the door, said dogs respectively having portions adapted to be projected beyond an edge of the opening to be closed by the door to secure the door in closed position, rotatable means mounted on the door for operating said movable means to selectively cause said dogs to assume door securing and door releasing positions, said rotatable means having a curved portion eccentric with respect to its axis of rotation, a lever for actuating said rotatable means, and link means connected to said movable means and cooperable with said curved portion so as to be movable thereby upon rotation of said rotatable means to operate said movable means.

6. Door securing mechanism including movable means having a plurality of simultaneously movable dogs pivotally mounted adjacent an edge of the door with their pivotal axes substantially normal to the plane of the door, said dogs having portions adapted to be projected beyond an edge of the opening to be closed by the door to secure the door in closed position, rotatable means mounted on the door for operating said movable means to selectively cause said dogs to assume door securing and door releasing positions, said rotatable means having a curved portion eccentric with respect to its axis of rotation, a lever for actuating said rotatabl means, a link having its outer end connected to said movable means and having its inner end cooperable with said curved portion so as to be movable thereby, and a member pivotally mounted on the door and connected to the inner end oi said link so that upon movement of said rotatable means by the lever the link is caused to actuate said movable means.

WILLIAM YOUNG. 

